Nightly adventures, night train from Izumo to Tokyo
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October 17, 2015 - Nightly adventures, night train from Izumo to Tokyo
For many years I have had a huge interest in railways. Japan being the number one nation coming to train travel also have had it's share of night trains across the country.
However. competition from cheaper air travel fares, development of shinkansen and night buses have made the night trains rapidly disappear.
As of today the night train from Tokyo to Izumo and Takamatsu is the only one left in Japan and out of fear I would have never travelled by one I put all effort on getting a ticket.
For those unfamiliar with reserving a night train ticket, it cannot be made online. I had a travel agency arrange a ticket for me before my arrival. The tickets are released 1 month prior to departure and the demand is high, so anyone wanting to go by night train should be prepared and set up alternative plans for any possible day to travel.
I managed to get a ticket for the Izumo-shi to Tokyo direction. The train was due to depart 18.55 so I had some time shopping some dinner, breakfast and something to read for the journey.
Note that there are no restaurant or kiosks onboard the train, except for a vending machine for drinks, so anything you might need must be bought before departure.
The not so nearby Izumo Taisha shrine is located a few kilometers away from the station and is reached by private Ichibata Electric Railway terminating near Izumo-shi station.
A few days prior to my departure from Izumo I heard news of a typhoon approaching Japan. Since the night train is travelling such a long distance it might get severely delayed or even cancelled in case of strong winds and rain coming from a typhoon.
But as the departure closed in and arriving on the platform I felt at ease from the worries about never being able to travel by the night train.
About 15 minutes prior to departure the 7 car long Sunrise Izumo appeared out of the darkness to finally cater the awaiting passengers.
A few train entusiasts like me went ahead to take some commemorative photos of the back end before departure.
The train itself has several different seatings, or berths may be the more correct way to call it.
The simplest and most popular being the so called nobi-nobi seating which are carpeted floors in two decks which are devided somehow but on the whole are like a long dormitory. As there were people sleeping there I did not want to bother them taking pictures. I also remember there being a train conductor stationed near the nobi-nobi area.
If using a Japan Rail Pass it is possible to travel without any fee using the nobi-nobi, but note that these must be reserved and there are no non-reserved seats on the train.
If in need of more privacy there are instead B and A class berth, both which require an additional fee if using a Japan Rail Pass.
The B class have the Solo berth and the Single berth, the later which I had reserved. The Solo berth is a smaller version of the Single berth.
Then there are Twin berths as well.
For the more luxurious needs there are the A class or Deluxe berths and Sunrise twin berths. The Deluxe berth contains a table, a chair, a sink and a TV, and of course a bed.
The B Single and Solo berths were available in the upper or lower deck. The berth number was on the seat reservation ticket. I think the berths in the middle deck on the map were Twin berths.
Amazingly I found many berths to be unused. They all had their doors open until they were claimed by the reserved passenger. And for security you had to put in a personal code to the berth as there were no physical keys or anything.
The Single berth looked quite crampled but I had become used to the sizing of Japanese accommotations. Reviews mentioned that compared to Solo berths you could at least stand up in this berth. And I think there were less room for luggage in the Solo berth.
I managed to fit in a 42 x 32 x 25 cm backpack in the space between the door and bed.
The berth came with a pillow, sleepware, sheets and a quilt. The window was located in the level of the station platforms and could of course be blinded for view from the outside. There was also a radio and alarm clock for use as well as an electrical socket.
The only common room in the train was the lounge area in car number 3 which had some seating and view out of the train. There were also a vending machine and ticket machine for shower cards.
Before going to bed I decided to explore a bit more of the train, going as far as the nobi-nobi seating, having to pass through one of the smoking cars of the train with smoking-allowed berths.
As the late hours were nearing I returned to my berth and prepared for bed. It was a hard time falling asleep, not because of the bed itself but the feeling of sleeping through this intresting journey made me want to stay up all night.
During the journey we stopped at several stations, some only to let passing trains move along. The arrivals were announced by a typical railway jingle and a pre-recorded voice for the beginning of the journey. But I remember the announcements being reduced during the night.
When we arrived in Okayama around 22:00 we were coupled with the Sunrise Seto train from Takamatsu. On the platform outside there were still train travellers heading from Okayama to various desinations, possibly unaware of the curious foreigner watching them from the berth window.
After Okayama and eventually Osaka station there were no stops for several hours.
After a few hours of sleep I was woken up by an alarm tune in the early hours to get time to get up, get dressed and shower.
Since the water supply on the train was limited only a few people could use it during the journey. To comply with this you had to buy a shower card for 350 yen, earning you a 6 minutes of shower.
What should be noted though, unless you travel in the Deluxe berth, is that you will have to bring your own towel. These could be bought on the train before but now you had to buy them before departure. There were commemorative towels for sale in the convenience store at Izumo-shi station at that time.
As far as I remember the available minutes only counted as you were using the water. Being a frequent user of camping showers where you have to pay for a few minutes of use I hate the way the counter starts ticking as soon as the coin enters the coin box, making you lose a lot of time on that.
The shower came with a room cleaning button which could be used as courtesy for the next guest. Soap and schampoo were fortunately provided for free.
In the absence of a restaurant I had to bring my own breakfast. Since I wanted to meet some of the fellow travellers I decided to visit the lounge. I met a middle age couple I spoke a few words to but they were the only ones I actually saw on the train, except for some feet in the nobi-nobi area and the train conductor.
As we closed in on the Kanto plains the gentleman of the couple suddenly pointed out an unexpected sight from the train window. In the distance a snow covered mt Fuji could clearly be seen.
As we were approaching Tokyo station I bid farewell to the couple and headed back to the berth to pack in all my items in the backpack and prepare for arrival.
We were due to arrive in Tokyo at 7 in the morning, about 12 hours after departure from Izumo. The Izumo-headed train would arrive to Izumo around 10 in the morning as it left Tokyo later than my train.
Eventually the train stopped safely on time at the Tokyo station bringing an end to the long and nightly adventure from the west to the east.
Hopefully the demand for Sunrise Izumo will remain for many years ahead.
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List of Posts:
2015/10/22 - Off the beaten path: Kagoshima to Osumi-peninsula 2015/10/21 - Kaimon-dake, reaching for heaven 2015/10/17 - Nightly adventures, night train from Izumo to Tokyo 2013/10/04 - Finding Ponyo in Tomo-no-Ura 2013/10/03 - Nara with Wakakusayama |
